I LOVE PEZ, and a tour of the factory is the collector's dream come true. I was able to realize this dream a few years ago when PEZ opened their Visitor Center and the Northeast PEZ Convention hosted a bus trip there with an exclusive tour of the factory! This year they did it once again and added a PIZZA party. A single bus full of collectors arrived on a lovely Thursday afternoon just in time for a pizza party in the upstairs loft of the factory.

Wouldn't you like to visit a museum dedicated to cartoon characters from 1873 to the present? We did just that on a recent trip sponsored by the NorthEast PEZ Convention. The Barker Character, Comic and Cartoon Museum is located in Cheshire, Connecticut and houses the personal collection of Gloria and Herbert Barker.

The fight to stop the defoliation of Shannondale, WV by cankerworms, better known as inch worms, took to the skies this morning. The Shannondale Gypsy Moth Committee hired Helicopter Applicators Inc. (HAI) out of Gettysburg, PA to do the actual application to the area. They used Foray 48B Btk which is a bacterium that only affects caterpillars and will not harm other types of insects, fish, birds or mammals.

We once again made the road trip to Duncannon, PA for Sled Fest. This show has grown to capacity in just a few short years. It is held near the Old Sled Works which was the home to the Lightning Guider manufacturing facility. The show is opened to all pre '72 vehicles but if you want a parking spot plan on being there early. The Hooligans Car Club does a good job of parking cars to maximize the use of the small lot.

If you want to visit the Martinsburg Roundhouse Center in Martinsburg, West Virginia you can currently do so by appointment only. We were the only ones on the Saturday visit that my wife had arranged. This gave us plenty of time to explore and photograph the large former B&O railroad complex. Our two guides for the morning were Bill Taylor, a former Martinsburg B&O roundhouse employee, and Stedman Howard, Chairman of the Berkley County Roundhouse Authority. The Berkley County Roundhouse Authority has done a great job so far in trying to restore the facility into a usable space. Compare photos from 2001 to today to see the difference.